Local government law Books

Book SynopsisOur local councillors come from people close to their electorate: family, friends, neighbours, work mates, people down your street. They might be down your street - but you don’t feel that they are up it! They spend multi billions of our money annually on schools, housing, social services, roads, waste management, sport and leisure, environmental and public health, planning amongst many other day-to-day matters vital to us all. But what do we really know about our elected representatives and how they work, what good they do, and what really happens behind the scenes? One in a Million does just that, taking you into the office of Sir Bill Taylor. Sir Bill Taylor has almost fifty years of successful experience in public service as a full-time youth and community worker, manager and trainer professionally and as a Councillor, Committee chair, Executive Member, Mayor and deputy Mayor, Deputy Leader and Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council. He was constituency agent to Cabinet member Jack Straw for over thirty years. They transformed how Councils and constituency MPs communicated and engaged with communities. Many things he introduced in communities, education, schools, colleges, finance and social mobility were visited by prominent national figures and widely replicated nationally as good practice. During these times his work has been described as “unique unparalleled elsewhere” and “in a league of their own”. What was his investiture at the palace like? What is a royal garden party like? How do you install a new bishop? How do local political parties operate? What is a Constituency Agent? What’s canvassing at election time really about? How do mayors get appointed, and what do they do? Find out the answers to these questions and more in this fascinating inside look at a dedicated councillor's career.

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Book SynopsisThe Care Standards Act 2000 came into force in April 2002 and provides for the administration of a variety of care institutions, including children''s homes, independent hospitals, nursing and residential care homes.This Act replaces the Registered Homes Act 1984 and those parts of the Childrens Act 1989 which are relevant to the care or the accommodation of children. It is a major piece of legislation which seeks to substantially reform the law relating to the inspection and regulation of homes. This book provides an in-depth guide to the new framework and offers advice on the practical and procedural effects. It also covers judicial review procedures and the potential human rights implications of the new Act.

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Book SynopsisShanghai was the economic center of the far east in the early 20th century, when it was known as the ‘Paris of the orient’. Decades of relative decline followed until the start of China’s reform and opening-up policy and the decision to develop Pudong. Since then, Shanghai has regained its status as the country’s leading industrial and commercial center, and emerged as a key city in the Asia-Pacific region.Today, it is focusing on a four-pronged development approach with the target of becoming not only one of the world’s top financial centers by 2020 but also a global economic, trade and shipping hub. In 2015, Shanghai’s financial sector grew by 23%, contributing 16.2% to the city’s GDP. In shipping, it has supplanted Hong Kong and Singapore to become the busiest container port in the world with a total throughput of more than 37m TEUs in 2016. Shanghai, the Pacesetter of China’s Reform and Opening Up provides a comprehensive overview of the historical, cultural and social characteristics of Shanghai, its national and global status, and its development before and after reform and opening up. It charts the transformation of Shanghai’s economy, and goes on to assess its pioneering national role in terms of social administration and cultural development. Lesser-known aspects of the city, including the ecological environment and administrative operations, are also analysed in depth. The book concludes with a look at the future development of Shanghai, the integration of the Yangtze River Delta and the vision to create a cosmopolitan city with the capability to allocate global resources.

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Book SynopsisGiven that amending the US Constitution has become all but impossible, the real battleground these days is the states, and Dinan outlines how that process works and how groups have been using it.

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Book SynopsisToronto prides itself on being the world's most diverse city, and its officials seek to support this diversity through programs and policies designed to promote social inclusion. The author brings to light the often unexpected ways that the development and implementation of policies shape everyday urban life.

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Book SynopsisProviding new research and thinking about cities, their governance and planning reform, this book compares the UK with multiple international examples in order to examine cutting-edge experimentation and innovation in new models of governance and urban policy in response to today's increasing global social and environmental challenges.Trade Review“This book is a very helpful guide and resource to both the past and future devolution agenda.” Local Government StudiesTable of ContentsIntroduction: Planning reform and state spatial rescaling Devolution: A patchwork quilt of planning reform Replacing the regions: The evolution of English subnational reform City regions and the cities within them: Connecting two overlapping scales Local authorities: Powerhouses or scapegoats? Community-led governance: Opportunities and constraints Conclusion: Rescaling urban governance

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Book SynopsisThe shocking truth about how state governments and their private industry partners are profiting from the social programs meant to support disadvantaged Americans Government aid doesn't always go where it's supposed to. Foster care agencies team up with companies to take disability and survivor benefits from abused and neglected children. States and their revenue consultants use illusory schemes to siphon Medicaid funds intended for children and the poor into general state coffers. Child support payments for foster children and families on public assistance are converted into government revenue. And the poverty industry keeps expanding, leaving us with nursing homes and juvenile detention centers that sedate residents to reduce costs and maximize profit, local governments buying nursing homes to take the facilities' federal aid while the elderly languish with poor care, and counties hiring companies to mine the poor for additional funds in modern day debtor's prisTrade ReviewHatcher exposes an urgent paradox at the heart of American governance: why, and how, are states and localities teaming up with corporations to squeeze profits from societys poorest? The Poverty Industry breaks fresh ground. Every American who cares about the intersection of private profits and public justice should read this book, and wrestle with its arguments. Hatcher marshals years of legal experience and research towards fulfilling the muckrakers calling: 'to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.' But he also goes a step further. In The Poverty Industry, he combines a practitioners depth with a journalists flair for storytelling, to generate the first complete account of a little-known phenomenon that should be of interest to every reader with a conscience. -- Sarah Stillman, staff writer for The New YorkerEveryone today is skeptical of charitable organizations that spend too little of their money on charity. After reading this book, Americans are sure to become just as skeptical when state and local governments spend federal tax dollars. Hatchers tour-de-force spells out how federal government spending on services for the poor are being wasted. . . . No one who reads this book will ever feel the same about fiscal federalism. . . . Hatcher shows that a shocking amount of money is going to profit private businesses. Even worse, these businesses are teaching state and local governments how to scam the feds by taking money for one purpose and misusing it to help fill a hole in the state budget outside of the purposes for which the money is being given. An extremely important book. -- Martin Guggenheim, Fiorello LaGuardia Professor of Clinical Law, New York UniversityIn the tradition of great muckraking, Hatcher has exposed how states and localities have misdirected and misused public funds envisioned to benefit the most vulnerable among us. . . . Should be required reading for lawmakers and public officials, to remind them of their legal and moral responsibilities and to inspire them to stop these disturbing practices and direct these crucial resources to their rightful recipients. -- Jane M. Spinak, Edward Ross Aranow Clinical Professor of Law, Columbia University[An] important book...Hatcher has done a great public service by shining a light on these massive distortions. * Stanford Social Innovation Review *In this meticulously researched book Hatcher, who has represented vulnerable people in court for years, including children in foster care, lifts the lid on a system that rather than helping the needy, systematically turns them into 'a source of revenue'. * The Guardian,Mary O'Hara *Daniel Hatcher meticulously explains the impact of deregulated privatisation on America's already residual care services. * Times Higher Education *Hatcher provides beautiful examples of unintended consequences of government policies: states rip off the federal government because the federal government has unwittingly incentivized the states to do exactly that. * Choice *A law professor at the University of Baltimore who has represented Maryland victims of such schemes, Hatcher presents a distressing picture of how states routinely defraud taxpayers of millions of federal dollars. * Boston Review *Hatcher throws light on what can be hidden processes in human services budgeting, contracting, and implementation. The Poverty Industry walks through the evolution of legal doctrine regarding rights of vulnerable persons...The narrative provides compelling evidence that scholars, policymakers, and advocates should take a closer look at the political and business relationships shaping contracting decisions involving for-profit firms. * Political Science Quarterly *"Poverty is here painted as an industry that, like the defense industry, has an iron triangle. As explored by Hatcher, it depicts revenue maximization services and contingency fees that decrease the funds from the federal government that go to helping children and the poor. * Library Journal *The Poverty Industry exposes the venality of a startling number of public servants and private contractors who misdirect and misuse public funds intended to benefit those most in need. * Jewish Currents *

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Book SynopsisAlthough the RCMP is often identified as a national symbol, Canadian police history is largely the story of municipal and provincial police forces who have had little influence on popular culture but considerable impact on the lives of Canadians. Municipal police forces predate the Mounties by a generation and first began to articulate their concerns through the Chief Constables’ Association of Canada (CCAC) in 1905. The development of this little-studied, non-governmental organization, known since the 1950s as the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), has been a crucial part of our criminal-justice history.The CACP/CCAC story mirrors the social and intellectual history of policing in twentieth-century Canada. Beginning with and overview of nineteenth-century policing and the conditions that led to the establishment of this first policy lobby. Policing Canada’s Century is a chronicle of police reaction to social change and the rise of new institutions, r

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Book SynopsisConstitutions and their systems are increasingly under pressure from identity groups such as regional and national minorities. Presenting the first comparative analysis of the negotiation of constitutional demands by these groups, Vito Breda uses an innovative methodology to create a richer understanding of the pluralistic nature of modern states. Combining both political and constitutional analysis, Breda expertly analyses cases from the USA, Canada, UK, Spain, Italy, New Zealand and Australia, reviewing the practices of cooperation and litigation between these groups and central institutions. An evaluation of the implications of the Catalonian, Puerto Rican and Scottish referenda show how regionalists seek to negotiate with central governments, defined by what they consider acceptable engagements under constitutional law. Both the systems and the constitutions themselves are changing under the pressure of these groups, but what remains is the distinctive constitutional structure ensuring democratic agreements emerge from difficult negotiation processes. Timely and in-depth, this book is a vital contribution to discussion on constitutional law globally. It will also attract researchers interested in regional issues within law, political science and sociology, and particularly those who study the role of regional or nationalist movements inside democracies.Trade Review'Through a careful study of 7 cases, Breda shows how regions have been able to acquire powers of self-government through constitutional negotiations and the corresponding forms of democratic federalism these negotiations bring about in response. Required reading for anyone interested in democratic constitutional change in complex societies.' --James Tully, University of Victoria, Canada'This is a must-read book for everyone studying current federalist issues. Dr Breda perfoms a holistic analysis on the most representative federal models, guiding the reader through the key questions: why a society decides to organize itself in a federal way and which are the main challenges that the ''demos'' and the ''polity'' are really facing.' --Luis Gordillo, University of Deusto, Spain'Despite renewed interest among constitutional scholars in federalism and sub-state nationalism, the broader category of regionalism remains neglected. Vito Breda's book promises to fill this gap. It brings an insightful cross-disciplinary approach to many of the main case studies, and draws out comprehensively the range of institutional approaches which contemporary constitutionalism brings to the accommodation of regions.' --Stephen Tierney, University of Edinburgh, UKTable of ContentsContents: Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Identity-Based Constitutional Claims: Negotiating with Regionalists 2. The UK: Identity-Based Constitutional Claims in a Parliamentarian System 3. Spain: Constitutional Negotiations and Ethnocentric Nationalisms 4. Italy: Constitutional Negotiations and Tolerance in a Patrimonial Political System 5. Canada: A Multinational Constitution and the Obligation to Negotiate 6. USA: Constitutional Negotiations and Peripheral Nationalism 7. New Zealand: The Westminster Model and Meso-Governance 8. Australia: the Recognition of Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islanders Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis insightful book analyses regional constitutional crises, where a large portion of residents no longer believe that the rule of law, as defined by central institutions, governs them. Laying out a framework for effective governance in divided societies, Vito Breda argues that peace and collaboration are linked to managing shared beliefs through constitutional law.Adopting a pragmatic view of regional identity as constantly changing and creating a mistrust of rule by ‘others’, Breda explores a wide range of case studies, including Hong Kong, Northern Ireland and Quebec, where nationalism and political violence have led to state actions becoming discredited. Particular attention is paid to those concerned with the lingering effects of a colonial past in China. The book demonstrates that constitutional law projects visions of what a society is and wants to be, and argues that less hegemonic perspectives increase the likelihood of cooperation, leading to better outcomes for all citizens.The book will be an informative read for academics and students in comparative public law political scientists, and sociologists interested in nationalism and democracy. It will also aid policy-makers seeking to design stable, effective and inclusive constitutions.Trade Review‘This book by Vito Breda constitutes a major exploration of a series of ethno-regionalism cases in Europe, North America, East Asia and Oceania through the lenses of constitutionalism and territorial politics. The author convincingly illustrates how cooperation among groups, respect between key political partners, and the protection of human dignity contribute to create the necessary conditions for political stability and reciprocity. Complementary to this sustained account, a crucial point is made to the effect that permanent negotiations among political partners open the way to the expansion of the democratic exercise while instilling a culture of togetherness. A must-read for anyone interested in the development of multinational democracies.’ -- Alain-G. Gagnon, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada‘Regionalism is in the midst of a renaissance, and there is no scholar better than Vito Breda to assess the challenges and opportunities regionalism raises for constitutional stability and performance. Timely and inspired, this study of sub-state identity-formation exposes deep fissures in multinational societies but charts a hopeful path for managing regional constitutional crises.’BR> -- Richard Albert, University of Texas, US‘Complex realities require complex analyses and cannot be solved with simplism. The current crises need thoughtful and in-depth research to shed light on the intense fog in which they seem to exist. Vito Breda's latest book analyzes and illuminates some of the most important problems of current constitutionalism and regionalisms that sometimes attack the status quo. It offers a perspective far beyond the usual and fascinating points of view. Very useful to understand the world where we live.’ -- Iñigo Navarro Mendizabal, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Spain‘In his latest book, constitutional scholar Vito Breda once again draws on his broad erudition to construct a comprehensively researched, insightful and often startlingly original take on his subject. Breda is a skilled mosaicist: he relies on case studies from several continents to produce both a rich and a conceptually deep image of how constitutionalism, regionalism and conflict intersect around the world.’ -- Ron Levy, Australian National University, Australia.‘In this well-informed scholarly work on regional constitutional crises, Vito Breda, one of the experts on legal comparison, synthesizes its dialectical aspect. Inspired by the real impacts of space and time positioning, Breda brilliantly highlights the tensions created by the obvious sacrifice of local identities on the altar of global beliefs, whatever they might be, for even the mirage of constitutional stability. Not only do we have here a clear description of the tragic truth of the manipulation of (legal) meanings by the so-called elites but also of the quasi permanent abuse of the dominant position of central states on their peripheries. This work illustrates the Althusserian findings on ideology, which masks reality, misrepresents reality and ultimately creates a fantasy world to allow the continuation of a system including its constitutional architecture. Thanks to Vito Breda, we understand how regional entities are the victims within that mechanism.’ -- David Marrani, International Centre of Law and Business, AGIR Group, Jersey‘Vito Breda’s Constitutional Crises and Regionalism paints a powerful landscape of one of the most fundamental dynamics of contemporary constitutionalism. The book combines together methodological rigor, interdisciplinary perspectives and innovative vision. Through an inductive, comparative approach, Professor Breda moves from some concrete situations, of which he has in-depth knowledge, to obtain a convincing and original reading of regionalism as a complex constitutional phenomenon.’ -- Matteo Frau, University of Brescia, Italy‘A fascinating exploration of regional governance and constitutional engineering. Those who seek to delve into the realms of territorial identities, multinationalism, political pluralism, and constitutional organization would greatly benefit from reading Breda’s insightful perspective.’ -- Hèctor López Bofill, Pompeu Fabra University, SpainTable of ContentsContents: Introduction to Constitutional Crises and Regionalism 1. The UK and Northern Ireland: sectarianism and Brexit 2. Spain: Spanish legitimacy after the end of political violence in the Basque Country 3. Italy and Sicily: Mafia territorial sovereignty 4. North America: Quebec and Alaska 5. China and Hong Kong: an a-constitutional crisis 6. France: the end of New Caledonia’s sui generis status 7. Australia and the Northern Territory: an unfortunate intervention 8. Papua New Guinea and Bougainville: civil war and a new sovereign state Conclusion to Constitutional Crises and Regionalism Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis Town and Parish Council VAT Guide is an easy reference guide for those engaged in administering the financial affairs of town and parish councils in England and community councils in Wales. It focuses on the typical range of activities that these local authorities will have. It will be of use to town and parish clerks or treasurers and those responsible for the book-keeping of these organisations, as well as those responsible for auditing such bodies.The authors have avoided using unnecessary jargon and overly technical language in this book, while giving the reader the basic concepts of the tax and a degree of familiarity with the common technical terms used by H M Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in its own guidance. The most common terms are set out in the glossary. This makes it easier to understand how to recognise your VAT liabilities and what the associated implications and compliance requirements are.Table of Contents Town and Parish Councils VAT Guide Table of contents 1. What and who is this book for? 2. An overview of VAT 2.1. HMRC Guidance 3. Basic philosophy and mechanics of VAT 3.1. The mechanics of VAT 3.2. VAT Returns 3.3. Making Tax Digital 3.4. Supplies of Goods or Services 3.5. VAT Reliefs 3.6. VAT recovery 3.7. Obligation to provide an invoice 3.8. Correcting Errors 3.9. Tax Points 3.10. Trading outside the UK – Reverse Charge 4. VAT for Local Authorities 4.1. Overview 4.2. Definition of local authority 4.3. VAT registration 4.4. Recovery of VAT by local authorities (including unregistered bodies) 4.5. Business or Non-Business? 4.6. Recovering VAT on exempt business activities, including partial exemption 5. Specific Activities 5.1. Advertising 5.2. Allotments 5.3. Cemeteries 5.4. Community Projects 5.5. Crèches and Playgroups 5.6. Crematoria 5.7. Council as Trustee 5.8. District Council Delegated Functions 5.9. Events & Tourism 5.10. Fundraising events 5.11. Garage Rental 5.12. Grants and Donations 5.13. Land, Property and Building Works (including the option to tax) 5.14. Markets 5.15. Parking facilities 5.16. Planning and Licensing 5.17. Publications 5.18. Public Toilets 5.19. Recreational Facilities 5.20. Room hire 5.21. Section 106 Funding 5.22. Shared Services and Partnerships 5.23. Sponsorship 5.24. Sporting Services 5.25. Storage facilities 5.26. Supplies of staff 5.27. Youth Clubs 6. Glossary of Terms 7. List of Useful HMRC Publications 8. WORKED EXAMPLES 8.1. Registration issues 8.2. VAT Returns 8.3. Partial Exemption 9. Relevant Legislation 9.1. Principal VAT Directive 9.2. VAT Act 1994 9.3. Value Added Tax Regulations (SI 1995/2518)

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Book SynopsisAn easy reference guide for those engaged in administering the financial affairs of town and parish councils in England and community councils in Wales. It focuses on the typical range of activities that these local authorities will have.

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Book SynopsisContaining also: Kultur im Verfassungsstaat. Grund und Grenzen der Wissenschaftsfreiheit. Die Universität im Zeichen von Ökonomisierung und Internationalisierung. Sprache als Kultur- und RechtsgutTrade Review"The volume presents the reports and discussions held at the conference of the "Association of German Constitutional Law Teachers" in Frankfurt from October, 5th to October 8th, 2005."

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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